


Everybody Wants To Be A Cat

by Wunderchick



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Mild Language, everybody's a dork, mostly will though, this is the most ridiculous idea i have ever had and i'm not even ashamed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-16 10:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4622484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wunderchick/pseuds/Wunderchick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will is annoying, Lou Ellen is pissed, Nico loves animals and Cecil isn't helping.<br/>Or, what happens when Will gets turned into a cat and decides the best course of action is to go purr in Nico's face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've fallen back into this ship and, after reading Solangelo fics nonstop for the past two weeks, I've decided to write my own. There will probably be more to come because ugh come on how can I not??!

“Ah, Nico, have you seen-”

Lou Ellen's question hung in the air as her body froze in surprise. Any other demigod walking past would have thought she had just met Medusa if the girl hadn't been blinking, and if anybody had known for sure whether Medusa had come back up from Tartarus.

The son of Hades was wearing the same look of surprise as the young witch, and from his crouched down posture on the ground and the way he couldn't quite bring himself to turn around to face her completely, Lou concluded it was the positive kind of surprise.

“It's not scared of me,” Nico whispered, his eyes widened slightly. “Animals normally don't- at least those that are alive- they just-”

He ended his sentence with a purposeful hand gesture, eyes falling back on the sand-and-cream colored cat with bright blue eyes that was currently lying on the ground in front of Nico. The cat was purring and contorting to amicably bump its head against the chthonic demigod's hand where it was buried in the fur of its belly, apparently quite satisfied with the petting.

Amused, the daughter of Hecate pursed her lips, nodding like she was as clueless as Nico as to why this particular cat hadn't run away from him, when actually she knew for a fact it had definitely sought him out in the same way it always did, even when it was in its human form.

Lou stared at Will, who had cracked an eye open and was staring at her, although still purring like a madman at Nico's ministrations. The girl rolled her eyes at him, then thumbed the small sigil she had on the inside of her wrist. I've got him, she thought at Cecil, who had the exact same symbol on his own wrist. The two of them had worked together to find something similar to an empathy link, something that could help demigods on quests figure out what was going on if either of them ever got separated from the rest of the group.  
At least, that was the official version. Truth be told, Cecil wasn't a year-rounder, and there was only so much Iris-messaging his and Lou's wallets could take before they got low on drachmas. Writing was nice, too, but it was slower and they'd much rather share their excitement right then and there.

It was also useful when they were both at camp and had to go their separate ways for various reasons, such as looking everywhere for a certain healer the daughter of Hecate may or may not have turned into a cat out of frustration.

Not that Cecil blamed her: Will had been so infuriating, the son of Hermes had been this close to pulling the nastiest of tricks on him, maybe make him cry so Nico would find him and comfort him and they'd end up swapping spit under the starry night sky or whatever. Everything to put an end to the head medic's sappy smiles and longing sighs, which occurred on a daily basis and were very, very annoying. And yet, the son of Apollo kept on postponing what was definitely the most expected declaration of love in the whole history of camp (maybe only second to Percy and Annabeth's). Surely Nico was counting on it just as much.

Well, with the exception of right now, maybe. The fact that a living animal was allowing the Italian to pet it was obviously a huge deal for him, seeing as he wasn't looking anywhere other than the oval-shaped face of the cat, its triangular ears and the small line of its closed eyes.

“You're so soft,” Nico mused out loud, long fingers buried in cream-colored fur again. It was as if he had made a deal with himself to commit the feeling to memory, as he knew he wouldn't be able to get this close to an alive-and-kicking cat again soon after this. So he tickled the animal's chin, ruffled the soft hair right behind its ears, and booped its nose, for good measure. As his hand came close, Will-the-cat darted his tongue and licked one of Nico's digits, looking beyond smug at the small yelp of surprise that earned him.

“This is so embarrassing,” Cecil whispered in Lou's ear, and she would have jumped had she not already known he was there.  


“I know, right? If Nico finds out the truth, he'll crucify him.”  


“You mean when he finds out,” the son of Hermes corrected with a nasty grin. Lou Ellen had to make a huge effort not to bruise his shoulder. Or turn him into a mouse, maybe, see if cat-Will's instincts would kick in.  


“First of all, don't reverse-quote Disney's Hercules to me. Second of all, just- look at him!”

Cecil did, and seemed thoroughly unimpressed.

“He's... a fairly big cat?”  


“Not him, idiot, Nico!”

With a shrug and a vaguely uninterested 'oh', the son of Hermes looked over at the crouching figure. Nico was still petting the cat, talking in a low voice, probably complimenting its fur or saying whatever kind of nonsense people loved to direct at animals. He had a relaxed smile on his face, like somehow the sun was hitting him just right and for once he didn't mind, or like he could fall asleep right there and then because everything just felt so right.

Cecil sighed, and Lou knew she had won.

“Okay, alright, no telling him jack shit. But what should we do, then? I mean, people are gonna notice Will's not around, and if Nico finds out by himself he'll be pissed.”

Lou's fringe fell in front of her eyes as she looked down, nodding to herself until she came up with something. The sooner they turned Will back, the better, as there was no guarantee the spell wouldn't suddenly wear off—she was a good witch, but you never knew with magic. Sometimes spells had a mind of their own.

“I've got this,” she mumbled for Cecil's ears only, then cleared her throat before speaking loud enough for Nico to hear. “So, I think maybe we should try to find out who this cat belongs to? I mean, it probably comes from outside camp, or else we would have seen it before, right? Somebody's probably looking for it.”

The look Nico gave her would have made her cave in, had she not known any better.

“Are you sure? I mean...” He looked back at the cat, lower lip jutting out in a pout Lou Ellen and Cecil would probably hear about for days on end, then heaved a resolute sigh, shoulders slouching down under the Inconceivable Weight of Loss. “Alright, fine, you're probably right anyway.”

Lou smiled peaceably, then pursed her lips tightly together to hold back a cooing noise as Nico picked up the cat and held it against his chest, rubbing his cheek on top of its head. The witch could just see Will's face, eyes wide and wet with tears, the way he could make his lower lip quiver when he was trying to talk her into doing something ridiculous. If possible, his cat-face was very close to that expression right now as he bumped Nico's chin, purring reassuringly as if to say, I'll see you soon, don't worry!

The technique seemed to be effective enough, because the lines of Nico's face softened and he only sighed when he held out the cat to Lou.

“It's probably better if you take it from there.”

The unsaid words were obvious enough that even Cecil caught on, extending a hand to briefly pat the son of Hades on the arm. Both boys looked perfectly uneasy while the contact lasted, but the poor attempt at comfort seemed to get through.

“I'll let you know everything about their owner, okay?”

Nico nodded, then promptly turned around and left. As soon as he was definitely out of earshot, Lou Ellen lowered her mouth to Will's ears and whispered, “I'm going to fucking kill you for this.”

\-----------

“So, as it turns out, I hadn't planned ahead quite so well in the end! I mean, who would have thought, right?”

“Yeah, who would have,” Cecil replied in a bored tone, staring intently at his nails, trying to pick up some dirt that had gotten under there without him noticing earlier.

He was actually making a huge effort not to laugh real loud as Will was doing his best to talk himself out of whatever bloody demise Lou Ellen had planned for him. The head medic was gesturing wildly –something he had picked from Nico, Cecil decided-- and speaking just a little bit louder than necessary, in case there was anyone around he could use as witnesses if it came down to it.

“I know, right? I knew he'd be happy about this, have you ever seen him with Mrs O'Leary? He loves animals, so I thought to myself, hey Will, now's the occasion to make him real happy, but I hadn't exactly thought about when I'd have to turn back into, well, me, y'know?”

“So you made him sad again. Involuntarily. Because you're an idiot.” Lou concluded, deadpan.

“Exactly! I mean- no, hey, that was rude!”

Will pouted, Lou Ellen rolled her eyes, Cecil cackled. Dang, he loved his friends.

“So what do you suggest we do now? Should I turn you back into a cat forever?”

Alarmingly enough, Will seemed to really think about it, but a growl from the daughter of Hecate was enough to get him back on track. When he perked up with a goofy grin on his face, though, she knew this day was going to get longer with very little promise of rest.

“What if I got Nico a kitten?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it (finally) is, the second half where Will is an actual genius and gets Nico a kitten. Good job, Will!  
> My sincere apologies about the delay go at the end of the chapter, because I'm polite like this.

“Okay okay, keep your eyes closed, yeah ? Don't cheat or I'll get mad, and I'm actually in a great mood right now so don't ruin it, alright ?”

Nico rolled his eyes, a proof of fond annoyance Will couldn't see as the son of Hades had both his hands on top of his closed eyelids – the healer had insisted about using both hands, and although Nico wasn't entirely trusting of the upcoming surprise, he knew the quickest way to find out what was going on was to do as his boyfriend said.

“If you have finally cleaned the place like I've asked you two weeks ago, no need to get all excited about it. If _I_ made a huge deal out of every chore I do...”

“Hush now, no it's not that, and no I haven't cleaned up either, but it's raining anyway so if I did, we'd make everything dirty again in no time.”

The chthonic demigod was about to tell the taller one what exactly he thought of this ridiculous excuse when Will came to a halt in what was probably the living room, near the sofa. He delicately grabbed Nico's wrists, voice low and obviously amused.

“Alright, so. As I said earlier, this is something I've been thinking about for literally years now, but I didn't know how to make it work for sure. Then I heard about this from Kayla and I thought, _gods, that's exactly what I need!_ So I went there and I took a massive load of time to choose because, wow Neeks, if you had just _seen_ –”

“I thought I'd be able to see by now, but it sounds like you'd rather talk my ears off.”

He had seen the look that went with the sigh Will had just let out so many times before he didn't need to imagine it. Finally, in insufferably slow motion, the healer guided Nico's hands away from his eyes, and his gaze landed on the sleeping form of a kitten, curled up in a ball in the middle of the sofa which, in comparison, looked ridiculously big for once.

The look of absolute delight on Nico's face disappeared as fast as it came. Surely Will couldn't have forgotten the negative dispositions animals of all kind had against the son of Hades ? He had witnessed it time after time in the years they had spent together since the end of the second Gigantomachy, how even the goldfish in their tank swam away from him when he made the mistake of walking past a bit too close. After seven years, it was entirely impossible for William Solace to ignore how his little surprise would make Nico feel.

“Care to explain yourself ?” he asked in a small voice, throat constricted and dry; “surely you wouldn't be that cruel ?”

The blond's eyebrows shot up at that and he placed himself in front of his boyfriend, waving his hands around like he was trying to erase bad thoughts from the air around them.

“No no no no no no no, it's absolutely not what you think! I mean, yes, it is, but only a little !”

He got raised eyebrows as his only response, which was good enough a sign for him to keep going. Nico would never get mad without hearing his explanation beforehand anyway – they had gone through way too many arguments because of the shorter one's temper and the medic's lack of tact to not have learned anything.

“You remember that place Kayla works at now? Her part-time job with all those old people ?”

“It's called a retirement home and yes, I remember.”

Nico stared pointedly as he spoke those words, appreciating the red hue on Will's face and neck. Some of their friends, who were familiar with both Kayla's job and the Lotus Hotel story, had cracked more than their fair share of jokes at Nico's expense about the place. Eventually they all went back home to mice skeletons in their slippers and decided it would be for the best to bring the friendly jabs to a stop.

“Y-yeah, well erm, let's not forget the, the topic at hand, shall we? I went there the other day to bring Kay her lunch, y'know, and she told me the resident cat had had babies !”

Nico rolled his eyes at that: count on Will Solace to give you the names of all the bones in your body in Latin, then backwards, but talk about cat _babies_ while throwing his hands up in the air like a kid in Disneyland.

“So I asked her, is this a good place for animals? Aren't old people more susceptible to allergies, doesn't it get hard to breathe with all the cat hair everywhere, is it sanitary enough? So she told me yeah, actually Lizzie's a special breed so she doesn't lose her hair that much, and as for allergies–”

“Olympus mark my words Solace, if you don't get to the point _right now_ , I swear to the–”

“Okay okay okay okay, sorry, sorry er... where was I ? Oh yeah, Lizzie, she can tell when a resident is about to die, and she goes sit next to them and everything, you know ? Thanks to her the staff always knows when to call someone's family. You've heard about things like that, right ? With animals, I mean. It happens.”

The younger one nodded slowly, lips narrowed like a wall to keep any word from being formed as wrapped his mind around the idea. He understood quite well now where this was going, although he didn't dare hope just yet. But the son of Apollo wasn't talking anymore, instead looking hopefully at Nico, feelings swimming right there in the peaceful blue of his eyes.

“So basically, you think this kitten will behave the same way the mother does? You think it won't mind me ?”

“Only one way to find out !” and with that Will grabbed the other by the hand and led him in front of the kitten, still soundly asleep. “Go on, pet it.”

“Is it a girl or a boy?” Nico asked in a weak attempt at buying some time before what he was sure would be a huge disappointment.

“A girl,” Will replied, beaming proudly- probably at the use of his good memory for something non-medicine related, for a change.

“Does she have a name yet ?”

“I thought we'd take care of that once you're done being a baby and start petting her already.”

Not for the first time, Nico saw Will was as annoying as he was pretty and, grumbling, he got down on his knees. Bracing himself for the contact to come, he allowed his fingertips to make contact with the striped gray fur. The kitten's stomach was slowly rising and falling, breath not even hitching when a hand covered its entire body in one slow motion. As it was the animal merely cracked an eye open, yawned, then fell right back asleep.

The triumph on Will's face made him glow, and he rolled his eyes at Nico's ever-cautious air, dark brows furrowed in mistrust—as if you could stage a hoax with the help of a kitten that still smelled like milk and couldn't yet retract its claws.

“What is it this time, how aren't you smiling ?”

“I...” Nico grimaced before letting out a sigh. “I just, she's asleep right now, what if I scare her once she's fully awake ?”

It was all Will could do to groan audibly, tugging at his hair as he fell on his knees next to Nico. He grabbed his boyfriend by the shoulders, shaking him lightly.

“Nico. Nico, this adorable little thing felt your presence, and she cares so little about your deadly aura of impending doom she fell asleep without so much as asking your name or calling for her angry cat mommy. Seriously, look at this baby !” 

Right on cue he grabbed Nico by the chin and tilted his head so his dark eyes were back on their new pet.

“Tiny cat is not impressed by you. In the slightest. In fact it's probably thinking _you_ should be scared, and you know what? I think you are. You're scared of being disappointed, because apparently you're always disappointed—no, sunshine, let me speak,” he held up a hand and the son of Hades closed his mouth shut, looking a little mad and a lot vulnerable. Will's speeches always struck bull's eye, the healer always knowing where to aim to make the younger one crumble and it hurt as bad as it felt liberating afterwards.

“Nico, it's been years,” Will started again, his voice gentler as he ran his thumb on his boyfriend's knee. “How many friends have you lost in the past seven years, huh? Not even one, that's how many. You even gained some, there are people waiting for you and expecting you everywhere you go now, people who message you just to know how you've been and what your day has been like. Yet here you are, afraid of a tiny ball of hair that'll make you sneeze, knowing your luck, even though she's not scared of you, and you'll love having her around, besides I hardly give it two months before we start referring to her as 'our daughter' and going home early because “we've got to tuck her in”, and soon you'll even wonder why you were so scared in the first place. So stop being a baby, pet this adorable animal, and help me think of a name for her, okay ?”

By the time he was done he was out of breath, feeling slightly silly but mostly good. Maybe heartfelt monologues came with being a son of Apollo, maybe it was just Will; whatever the reason it worked well for him, because in a second he was greeted with a lapful of Nico.

Nico's nose burrowing itself in the junction between a tan, freckled shoulder and neck; Nico's hands clutching at the fabric of Will's shirt and it's a good thing neither of them are particularly picky about their clothes; Nico's lips pecking at Will's face, murmuring _thank you_ 's and _I love you_ 's like it was a mantra and his life would go south if he didn't. But mostly, mostly Will's heart was fluttering in his chest and when his boyfriend was finally done being emotional, he turned towards the kitten, which was now awake and staring at both demigods like they were particularly strange and should maybe serve as guinea pigs for cat sociologists.

“I think she's judging us,” the blond stated in a light tone. “She looks like she'd rather sleep a thousand years than deal with us.”

Nico smirked his 'I-just-had-an-idea-and-you-won't-like-it-but-you'll-do-it-anyway' smirk, and said: “Maybe we should call her Pipes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as I said, I am sososososo sorry for the time it took me to post this. Believe me if you want, but I actually finished this chapter barely three weeks after the first, but then work took over and I have this thing where I'm much quicker with my writing with a pen and paper, but when comes the time to type it all on my laptop... /ugh/. Hopefully I can find a magical solution to this minor problem, because I have many Solangelo ideas just waiting for me to stop being a lazy butt.
> 
> I hope this was (at least partially) worth the wait nonetheless, and thank you to everyone who has left kudos and comments, you are my sunshiiiines! ♥


End file.
